Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Seo Bille ar ba mhaith liom a chur chun cinn nuair a thoghadh mé don Dáil don chéad uair i 2002. Ag an am, bhí me an-buartha, mar atáim ó shin, faoin mbealach ina bhfuil cead tugtha do reachmasóirí - mar sin atá i gceist - rátaí úis de bhreis is 200% a ghearradh ar dhaoine. Ag an am, i 2002, an ceann is airde a bhí ann ná 195%, agus feictear dom go bhfuil sé imithe in olcas ó shin.

Research carried out by the Irish League of Credit Unions shows that 40% of people have borrowed to pay household bills in the past 12 months and 10% are likely to use moneylenders. In November 2010, Sinn Féin carried out research in my area on the impact of social welfare cuts. We surveyed more than 270 social welfare recipients in dole queues and post offices in Ballyfermot and the south inner city. Our survey found that at the time more than half of respondents confirmed they were likely to borrow money to see them through Christmas. Since the survey, two further rounds of social welfare cuts were imposed by the previous and current Governments. The numbers borrowing to cover current spending are likely to be much greater by now.

Since then the Minister for Social Protection has driven more people into the hands of moneylending vultures. The underemployed who currently receive a partial jobseeker's benefit are about to get a letter giving one week's notice that their benefit is to be cut. The income of a couple with two children will be down from €186 to €149 per week, a cut of €37 per week or almost €150 per month. A cut of this size represents the difference between having the money to pay the gas or electricity bill and having to borrow the money to pay those bills.

Likewise, many workers approaching retirement will receive a much smaller pension than expected due to under-the-radar cuts being introduced in September through secondary legislation. Without notice, many pensioners will receive a pension far smaller than what they legitimately expected. A worker retiring from September onwards who expected a State pension of €225 will now get €30 less per week, an annual loss of €1,500, with even more lost in the case of a couple. These people are another category the Labour Party, in particular, is pushing into the claws of unscrupulous moneylenders, be they legal or illegal.

Tonight we are dealing with those moneylenders that are legalised by the State. These companies know exactly who they are targeting - financially struggling unemployed people. Anyone watching daytime television will see the sort of advertisement that is swamping television in Britain, which promises a quick fix. It is the same quick fix that is being suggested by companies located in Ireland to those who are unemployed and are being screwed by the Government - people whose incomes have been cut to the extent that they cannot put bread on the table or pay the gas and electricity bills that are arriving. They are seeking a way out and see these companies offering a quick fix, but the quick fix does not exist. The problem is that this Government and those before it have legalised the charging of exorbitant rates by legal moneylenders. That practice must end and this Bill is a mechanism for achieving that. If the Government has minor problems with it, it should at the very least allow it to proceed on Second Stage and deal with those problems on Committee Stage, as is often done with Bills that have minor problems. I urge the Government to do that.

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